South China Sea: Philippines sends ships to disputed atoll where Beijing building ‘artificial island’
- There has been ‘small-scale reclamation’ of the Sabina Shoal and China is ‘the most probable actor’, says a spokesman for the Philippine coastguard
- Presence of Chinese vessels at the atoll coincided with the Philippine coastguard’s discovery of piles of dead and crushed coral, the spokesman adds
The Philippines said on Saturday it had deployed ships to a disputed area in the South China Sea, where it accused Beijing of building “an artificial island” in an escalating maritime row.
The coastguard sent a ship “to monitor the supposed illegal activities of China, creating ‘an artificial island’”, the office of President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr said in a statement, adding two other vessels were in rotational deployment in the area.
Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela told a forum there had been “small-scale reclamation” of the Sabina Shoal, which Manila calls Escoda, and that China was “the most probable actor”.
The Chinese embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Philippine assertions, which could deepen the bilateral rift.
The Philippine national security adviser called on Friday for expelling Chinese diplomats over an alleged leak of a phone conversation with a Filipino admiral about the maritime dispute.
Beijing and Manila have been embroiled for a year in heated stand-offs over their competing claims in the South China Sea, where US$3 trillion worth of trade passes annually.